A not so tragic tragedy
by Samantha Hill
Summary: An alternate ending to Romeo and Juliet. comes with happiness by his side, as a present comes in beautiful wrapping. And i almost never do happy things but this turned out happy...which is...wierd for me.... really...weird


10/09/08 English Bethany Maxwell

Alternate Ending Romeo and Juliet

The light hit the buildings just so that it seemed as if they were made of sunlight, pure light and happiness. Romeos heart was as light as the sun against the buildings, as light as the weight of a cloud, he floated on happiness. The day was perfect- aside from the fact he was banished and was to never see his true love and wife again but that's not what he's thinking about so shh- the birds sang in the trees, the wind was calm and a wisp of freshness, the sky was blue and perfect, everything was perfect.

The horse came out of nowhere with no warning, the air was suddenly polluted with dust from the horses hooves hitting the ground. Romeo looked up from his writing and saw his friend Balthazar atop the horse which was now about two-hundred feet in front of him. He smiled in response to seeing a familiar face, yet his smile quickly faded as he realized the look in Balthazar's face; the horror, the disbelief, the pain.

"What is it dear friend?" Romeo said as the horse came to a stop and Balthazar dismounted his horse.

"I came as quick as I can, as soon," his lack of breath cut him off.

"Come with me have a drink and tell me what you saw." Romeo led him into a small house which had only two rooms a small kitchen and a bathroom.

The front door opened into the kitchen revealing a round room. There was a small circular table in the middle of the room; there were two chairs on either end of it. The table was a dark brown, the wood look to be mahogany, the chairs were of the same color but the texture was obviously not the same as the table. The wall was lined with three cabinets each painted brown with thin black trim around the edges. There was a small countertop with the drawer that held silver wear fit into the side. The counter itself was covered with cutting boards and other assorted cooking implements. There was a small window cut into the place right above the center of the counter, it looked out into the town, and you could watch as people went about their day gathering food, working, and playing-if there are children. The window was circle so it matched the table and shape of the room, even the door seemed to be shaped a bit like an oval. The room fit well together, nothing out of place, nothing made the room feel too small or too big, it was cozy small and fit to be a kitchen.

Romeo walked to a container which sat by the door and got his friend a glass of water, then walked to the chair where Balthazar now sat. After a couple minutes Balthazar could speak again, "aren't I the servant? Should I be the one getting you something to drink?" he said sarcastically as Romeo took his seat across from him. He chuckled once then his face turned solemn again. He sighed and then took another drink of water.

Romeo laughed at his sarcasm and then looked his friend in the eye, "Tell me what you saw."

"Juliet oh fair Juliet," He murmured almost so quiet that even he could barely hear himself.

"What about my dear love Juliet, my wife?" Romeo questioned.

"She," Balthazar paused not knowing how to continue, "The night has come and taken yet another life with him as he returns the world to the light of the sun."

Right then Romeo knew it all, he knew she had died, that his fears of never seeing her again came true. His tears began to fall slowly down his cheeks yet after the news sunk in a little more his eyes overflowed with a river of salt and sorrow. "How?" He asked himself.

"I saw her with my own eyes, at the Capulet's tomb; she lay on a bed of white."

"I must go back!" Romeo all but shrieked. "There must be a mistake!"

Balthazar sat quietly wondering what he should do to comfort his grieving friend. Yet before he could even come up with one word of sympathy Romeo was out the door and running towards the stable to get his horse. Balthazar got up and followed grabbing his horse's reins as he walked towards the barn. Romeo lurched out of the barn on his horse, and flew by Balthazar without even slowing. Balthazar raced after him and soon caught up with him.

"Come to your senses, there is nothing to be done, slow down do not rush the pain, or it shall be more painful than if you approached her tomb with gentle strides!" He yelled across the road to Romeo. In response Romeo kicked his horse and gained another few feet of lead from Balthazar.

*******************************20 minutes later*************************** ******

The night closed around Romeo as he stood in front of the door of the tomb. The darkness acted as music that set the mood for what he was facing, the moon shone above his head like a bead in the sky showing him the little light left in life, with the darkness of sorrow engulfing it as it did his heart.

He gathered the little strength he had to push the doors open, it moved surprisingly easily and moved into the tomb revealing a dark wall lined with open coffins and rotting bodies that lay on top of them. The room smelled of death, and of flowers. There were fresh flowers laying on the coffins, there was a trail of white and red flower petals leading down the row of coffins and bodies towards a small opening witch held a single coffin. It sat untouched in a garden of death, the body was still fresh and the veil which lay over it was new and still smelled of the store it came from.

The pain was too overwhelming for Romeos mind and soul; he fled from the tomb falling to his knees in the grass once he was outside. The night air filled his lungs again with its sweet breath, the grass waved in the breeze, his heart pounded with fright and pain. His eyes began to get filled with tears again and he fell to the ground lying with his face buried in the Earth's welcoming arms. He wept for his love, for himself, for the pain that the world held.

The next thing he knew he was propped against the tomb again. No one was in sight only the moon and stars were visible. _Must have gotten up without thinking, _He thought as he looked through the vast emptiness. Just then laughter came from behind a tree that stood beside the tomb.

"You didn't move yourself." A dark cold voice said.

A slight gasp escaped Romeos lips as he recognized the voice of Paris; the man whom his love was supposed to marry the upcoming morning. "You!" Romeo hissed at the bodiless speaker.

Another shrill evil laugh came from the tree, as Paris stepped out from behind it. "It is I whom stands here, and it is I who shall take your life!" Paris grabbed his sword and lunged towards the open Romeo whom still sat propped against the wall of the tomb. Romeo quickly moved to the side barely dodging the blade. Before Paris could get his balance again Romeo was p and had his sword against Paris's back.

"You change me?"

"Yes I do. Bring it!" Paris shot back and spun out of the corner so he faced Romeo face on. He stepped twice back and once to the left. Romeo mirroring his moves perfectly.

"You're too predictable!" Romeo stepped back and then forward forcing Paris closer to the tree. Within 5 more moves Paris was backed against the tree with no escape. "See," Romeo asked smart-alecky. With a smirk and a twitch of the blade Romeo disarmed his opponent. "Now it shall be I WHO TAKES YOUR LIFE!" Romeo shot his sword through Paris's chest not thinking about what he was doing only acting. Paris stood there for a sec then crumpled to the ground, taking a breath of air.

"Lay me in the Capulet's tomb," He gasped, "so I can rest with what would be my family tomorrow morning." He breathed out and lay silent at Romeos feet.

Romeo stood motionless the bloody sword still grasped in his hand, the blood covering them. He knelt to the ground next to the dead body of Paris. _I KILLED him. I took his LIFE! How could I take someone's life?! I mean yeah I killed Tybalt but he was a *beeeeeeep* and he totally deserved it. Plus he had it coming soon anyway I just saved the Prince some time. But I KILLED Paris; I never meant to hurt anyone again. I swore to Tybalt's dead body I would never takes anyone's life again. How could I do this?! _Romeo sat motionless kneeled above the body, no emotion on his face, his eyes were dark and staring, his hands red and balled in fists. His sword now lay next to him, but he could still feel what he felt when he drove it through Paris's heart, when he killed him.

The door to the tomb moved slightly as Juliet pushed it open. Yet it made no noise, so Romeo sat unaffected by it all, he just sat staring endlessly at nothing. At the same exact moment Friar Laurence walked up the road at a speed that looked as if his little legs could not go any faster. They both stopped. Juliet let out a gasp, and Friar Laurence prayed to the heavens to be with Romeo.

Friar Laurence took the liberty to approach Romeo. He walked slowly towards Romeo and gently placed his hand on Romeo's shoulder. He said no words of sympathy, no words of question, or of judgment, no words were spoken, he offered only silence.

"I," Romeo stuttered and then stopped. He sat there for a minute, "I…killed….him…," Romeo finished with a sob and tears rolling down his cheek. He sat like that with the friars hand on his shoulder for a long time, meanwhile Juliet stood speechless by the door to the monastery nothing moved any of them; not the sound of the wind in the trees, the cold of the air surrounding them, or the pain that was pounding at all of their hearts, they were hard as stone.

************************** 45 minutes later************************* *

Juliet moved to her left switching her weight from one foot the other for about the hundredth time that night. She was getting impatient. Yeah her husband just killed the man that she was supposed to marry the upcoming morning it was just she couldn't stand the fact that he hadn't acknowledge her "aliveness" or the fact she was standing there waiting to get his attention. _GAHH how long can it take him to notice me! It's freezing out here, I have been "dead" for the past 8 hours, I haven't seen him in like a week or a week in half something like that, he's supposed to care about me!!! Fine if he doesn't notice me I'll try to MAKE him notice me! _Juliet crossed her arms over her chest and loudly cleared her throat. Neither Romeo nor Friar Laurence noticed. _OH COME ON!!!! That's it I give up. _With that she walked over to the two whom where still standing over the dead body or Paris. She let out a fake cry and started sobbing and fell next to her Romeo crying on Paris's dead body.

"MY JULIET!" Romeo almost shrieked.

_Now that's more like it. _"Romeo, oh my sweet Romeo!" Juliet cried as she buried her face in his chest with his arms locked tightly around her.

"I thought you were dead, you were dead! I saw you laying on the coffin in the tomb!"

"I was only asleep. Friar Laurence provided me an escape from the marriage to the man you have killed. I was to sleep and await your return so we could be together, announce our marriage, and be happy!"

"Is this true?" Romeo asked Laurence.

"All of it. Although your wedding has um," he coughed and cleared his throat, "has sort of already been… announced…." As he said this he caught Romeo and Juliet in the middle of a passionate kiss, yet as he finished they abruptly stopped and turned to face him.

"ITS BEEN WHAT!!!" They screamed at the same time both of their faces were twitching madly and they were about to blow smoke out of their ears.

The Friar started to back up slowly as he watched the couple's rage build, "well…umm…I thought it'd be good, that it would help," he paused thinking of a distraction. "What about… Paris! Yeah what are we going to do with his body?" He had his distraction, Juliet and Romeo both looked away from him and to the body.

"What _are_ we going to do with him?" Juliet questioned her husband.

"I promised to let his body lie with those who would've been his family if he had gotten to you earlier," He calmly replied.

"My mother may not be too pleased with that, but I suppose I should at least honor one of his wishes, might as well make it his last." Juliet agreed and they both went over to the body that still lay in the grass a few feet from the tree. Paris's weight wasn't all that heavy it was just the fact he was dead which made him a dead weight. They walked slowly to the door of the tomb, Friar Laurence quickly got up and opened the door a little wider to make it easier for them to navigate through it while holding a dead body.

Once back in the tomb Romeo looked around more thoroughly trying to get the idea of "final resting place" into his head. After setting Paris down on the coffin that should've been Juliet's Romeo walked through the rows of coffins and bodies. Some of them were "older" than others, some of them had nothing left but bare bones that were bleached with time and being in darkness for so long, others were "newer" They had flesh still attached to their bones and you could still vaguely see the features that made them them when they were alive. These were harder to look at and sadder to think about. They made you think about life and what you had, and made you think about what would happen to you when you died. They looked up at- well sort of looked at you- with pleading eyes that seemed to be pleading "live life for everything, cherish it, live it."

***

The next day Romeo woke with Juliet's body wrapped around him-which made it particularly hard to breath. He smiled still even with the lack of oxygen and looked down on his sleeping lovers face. He traced her face with his index finger while keeping his thumb locked under her chin. He lowered his head just long enough to kiss her gently on the lips. Her eyes fluttered and opened to reveal dark green eyes.

"Good morning my love," Romeo whispered to her as a smile was drawn across Juliet's face.

"Do I have to get up?" Juliet whined as she drew herself closer to Romeo, saving every bit of warmth the radiated through his cloths. "It's so warm here, and peaceful, I don't want to face what today has to offer." She said and she closed her eyes again breathing out a sigh of reluctance.

Romeo laughed at this, "My dear if you don't face today how will you face tomorrow? With everyday there are new dangers and chances, yes, but yet there are also new adventures and experiences to have, and happiness to be felt and shared." He said, with so much belief in what he was saying a lie detector would cry due to the fact it wouldn't have a job if everyone had this strong of truth within them.

"Aw but.." Juliet stared but before she could finish Romeo cut her off again.

"But nothing, up, up, up time to welcome the day, but," Romeo paused thinking of the feeling of being with his love and the fact they were alone and together once again, "okay we can stay here for a while longer."

Juliet let out a squeak of joy and she squeezed Romeo into an even tighter embrace then before.

"Can't……_BREATHE_…." Romeo stuttered and gasped for air.

"Oh," Juliet said with embracement and retreated her arms to her side and moved away from him, "sorry."

Romeo let out another laugh and wrapped his own arms around her pulling her close to him again, "with you by my side I don't care if I can breathe or not."

*************************************** 2 hours later********************** **

Juliet stood from the bed, soon followed by Romeo. They hadn't actually really thought about it but they had no idea where they were. The room was big and open with the king sized bed in the middle of the room that they'd been sleeping in. The room's walls were a mix of a light lavender and blue. There was a small lantern that hung next to the bed and a table below that that had a bible and some other papers on it. Right when they both looked at thet they knew exactly where they were.

"I guess we should get changed and give friar Laurence his room back." Romeo chuckled.

"Yeah," Juliet laughed, "I wonder where he slept last night."

"So do I."

The two of them walked out of the room a couple minutes later after they were out of their nightwear and into some normal cloths and found the Friar asleep and-quite loudly- snoring on the couch. Romeo sent Juliet into the kitchen to get some breakfast going for the both of them and the Friar, she went without question.

Romeo cleared his throat to try to get the Friars attention. But all he got in response was a louder snore. So Romeo walked over to him and poked him, and yet again, another snore. "That's it!" Romeo said as he stomped into the kitchen and grabbed a cup of cold water. He returned to the sleeping Friar and splashed the water on his face.

"Ah, I don't need to baptized again!" The friar yelled as he shot off the couch and the blanket fell off his body. And then he froze, looked down, and turned bright red.

Romeo just stood there, twitching.  
"I'm um," The friar squeaked, "going to go put on some cloths." He quickly said grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around him and streaked to his room-literally.

When Juliet returned to the living room to get the two to come to breakfast she found Romeo huddled in fetal position on the floor next to the couch, yet again, twitching. She helped him to his feet and practically carried him to the kitchen and sat him in his chair. When the friar walked in his face was still beat red, and when he and Romeo met eyes they both cringed.

"Oh come on you two don't be sissies your both guys it doesn't matter!!!" She had guessed what happened from the moment she saw Romeo's face. After about a half hour of trying to get the two to actually look at each other she finally succeeded and they were back to talking together.

That afternoon they all went to Juliet's house and then Romeo's house to tell of the giid news that Juliet was alive and that they were happily together once again and were going to live, and the feud between the two families was at an end.

They later moved into their own house. It wasn't too big, or too small, yet they made sure it had a balcony like the one they had announced their love towards each other or the first time on that night that seemed so long ago. The rooms were small and cozy perfect for the couple. The kitchen was big so Juliet could cook as much as she wanted to; she had suddenly had the urge to start cooking more. There were 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. There was a study in the lower floor of the house which had a big mahogany desk in the center which was surrounded by 3 large comfortable couches. The front door led straight into the ball room, which had blue and red walls and had a fountain that had crystal blue water flowing over its features in the center of the room. Outside the house was surrounded by beautiful gardens that held more colors then the rainbow. And around the back of the garden there was a giant pool that sat right below the balcony.

About two and a half years later a child was born. She was beautiful, with crystal blue eyes and long brown hair. Her birth is where we end this story; she marks the last chapter of the story of that of Juliet and her Romeo.

Alternate ending written by: Bethany Jane Maxwell


End file.
